


End of the Pursuit

by Peppermint_Miraculous (Peppermint_Shamrock)



Series: Peppermint's Ladynoir July One-Shots [6]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, F/M, Identity Reveal, LadyNoir - Freeform, Ladynoir July, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 23:29:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15375774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peppermint_Shamrock/pseuds/Peppermint_Miraculous
Summary: Ladybug wanted to save the boy she loved from the most vicious pirates who roamed the seas. Chat Noir wanted to get them off his back. It was only natural that they would team up.Months after their partnership began, they're finally prepared to confront theAkumaand her crew.They are considerably less prepared to learn the identity of their partner.Written for Ladynoir July Day 21 Prompt - Common Interests





	End of the Pursuit

**Author's Note:**

> This is more “Common Goals” rather than “Common Interests”, but close enough, right?
> 
> The Miraculouses work a little differently in this AU. There are no kwamis, and the transformation is applied as long as the Miraculous is worn – the wielder can only detransform by removing the jewelry. The special powers can be used multiple times, but they’re not unlimited – each use drains energy from the wielder.

Captain Ladybug was exactly where Chat Noir expected her to be, perched up on the mast as she stared out over the sea. She was not in the nest, as she had no reason to fear falling from that height when she was protected by some of the most powerful magic known to humankind.

He, too, held such powerful magic, so he easily joined her. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments.

“Soon…” Ladybug murmured. “We’re gaining on them, I know we are…by the time they see us coming, it’ll be too late.”

“Quite a change for me, to be the one paw-suing,” he said lightly.

“You’ll have your revenge soon, kitty,” she promised. “We both will.”

Strictly speaking, he wasn’t seeking revenge. Mostly, he was interested in the peace of mind that would come from getting the _Akuma_ off his back. But since the best way to do that was to strike and put an end to their operations permanently, there was a nice bit of revenge in the deal that he certainly wasn’t going to turn down.

And as for Ladybug, well…

“I have to warn you,” he said seriously. “Your boy…there’s a good chance that you won’t find him there. I saw many stronger souls than I break on that ship. If he’s not dead…he won’t be in very good shape.”

He didn’t say this out of jealousy. Oh, it was true that he was hopelessly taken with the enchanting and brilliant captain, but despite his playful flirtations, he had known from almost the start that he had no chance – Ladybug had been quite clear that her motivations in pursuing the _Akuma_ lay in rescuing the boy she loved. And how could he hope to compete with someone that inspired the kind of devotion to challenge the most vicious pirates that ever roamed the sea?

No, he said it out of similar devotion to her. He did not want to see her crushed by the realization that after everything she had done, she still could not save her love. He wanted…needed her to be prepared for the worst. The _Akuma_ was notorious for the numerous boys they kidnapped and pressed into service aboard their ship, and the harsh, often fatal conditions they slaved under.

And he knew better than most just how true those stories were.

“…I know,” Ladybug said after a long pause, her eyes downcast. “If I’m too late…well, at least I will know that I avenged him.”

There was silence again.

“He could have escaped,” Chat Noir offered weakly. Ladybug gave a small, humorless snort and shook her head.

“Not likely, considering how they’ve hounded _you_.”

He couldn’t argue much with that. Even the rumor of the _Akuma_ having a price on his head had driven the few crews he’d ever managed to come by to mutiny and betray him. No one would come to his aid once they learned that he was an escaped prisoner of the _Akuma_ , and tirelessly hunted by them as a result.

No one, except Ladybug, who had gotten a wild gleam in her eyes and an impossibly wide smile.

 _What a coincidence._ I _’m hunting_ them _._

Though he knew she considered him to be helping _her_ out, he knew he was forever in her debt. Somehow, she had done what he could not – found a loyal crew that was not only willing, but eager to stand up to Volpina and her ship.

“You never did tell me how you managed to escape,” Ladybug said, pulling him out of his reminiscing.

“Oh, I seduced the first mate and absconded with his magic ring,” Chat Noir said cheerfully, waggling said ring and fingers at her.

Ladybug laughed.

“You? Seductive?” she said, her eyebrow arching high.

“I will have you know that I am _very_ pretty under this mask.”

“Oh, I have no doubt,” she said, still laughing as she poked him in the nose. “But you can’t seduce with handsomeness alone.”

“Well, plying him with large amounts of alcohol probably helped. He was quite fond of drink.”

“Ah. That would do it.”

“Truly, you wound me, my Lady. I am quite capable of the art of seduction.”

“I’ll believe _that_ when I see it!”

“Ah, but there is only one out there for me, and she is a hard woman to woo.”

“Very sweet,” Ladybug commented, nudging him playfully, “but don’t worry, I’m sure someday you’ll find yourself a lovely girl and settle down with a whole litter of kittens.”

“Not if we don’t take care of the _Akuma_ first.”

“True. I suppose we’d best be getting our rest while we can,” she said.

“I can’t sleep.”

“Neither can I,” she admitted. “Either I’ll finally see him again…or…” She trailed off. The rest didn’t need to be said.

“Whatever his fate,” Chat Noir said quietly, “he’s fortunate to have someone like you.”

“He never had me, not really,” Ladybug said just as softly. “We were so young, then. It hasn’t been that long, but after everything…it’s like a lifetime ago. There are so many things…that I wish I could have said. I wish I could have let him know my feelings.”

“He will know them when he realizes the lengths you’ve gone to to free him,” Chat Noir assured her, before his tone became somber. “That’s a rare thing, you know, giving up everything for just a slim chance to save someone. Most would deeply grieve, accepting that they’d never see the boy again. I doubt that the people in my life even did that much. My father might have made a fuss at the government for a bit, and the few friends I had might have been sad for a time, but I know they’ve all moved on and forgotten me by now. I don’t think I ever mattered that much to anyone…one reason why I never tried to return to that life after I escaped.”

Ladybug met his eyes, looking at him with warmth and sympathy.

“You’ll always be welcome on my boat, Chat Noir. I couldn’t have done this without you, and I’m glad we became partners. Even though the reason for our partnership will soon be fulfilled, I’ll certainly still have you on my crew, for as long as you want.”

He smiled back.

“Thank you, Ladybug.”

He didn’t have words for how much it meant to him. Even if she found her boy, he would gladly stay by her side. Even if the boy loved her too – and how could he not, after how much Ladybug had done for him – he knew he’d rather be by Ladybug’s side as her friend and crewmate than not at all. Besides, he had nowhere else to go. He had no love for the life he left behind, and though he sometimes missed his old friends, he was certain that they’d moved on without him. He could not go back into their lives now – scarred and changed as he was by his time at sea, he would only be a burden as he clumsily tried to readjust to a life he always found stifling anyway.

“We should rest,” Ladybug said again. “We’ll need our full strength for the battle ahead. Goodnight, Chat Noir.”

He watched her with the utmost fondness as she swung down to the deck, and returned to her cabin. He stayed there a few minutes longer, before jumping down himself.

The night was calm. The morning would not be.

.

.

.

The plan was simple, especially compared to Ladybug’s usual ones. Board the _Akuma_. Fight playfully. Tire them (especially Volpina) out, expend as little of your own energy as possible. Distract them while Alix and Nino got the enslaved boys out unnoticed. Then, when the signal went up, strike hard.

It was working pretty well. It probably helped that the entire crew had a grudge against Chat Noir. They locked onto him with the fury of the damned, rage practically pouring out of their eyes like smoke.

And he was enjoying every bit of it.

“Did you miss me?” he taunted over the chaos, dodging attacks and grinning cheekily at the hurled insults. Oh, he knew well the blow he had struck to their operations and their pride by taking the ring, and he knew that the best revenge was showing them how little power they had over him anymore. So he smiled and he laughed and he taunted, and each one felt like a victory over everything they’d forced him to endure.

“You have something that belongs to me,” Théo snarled at him.

“Bit hypocritical of a pirate to get bent out of shape over ‘ownership’! Wouldn’t you agree, my Lady?”

“Oh, absolutely!” Ladybug shouted back, swinging overhead. “It suits you better anyhow.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” he said, bumping her fist as she passed. This wasn’t just for show – Volpina’s illusions were convincing, but fragile, and would dissolve at a single touch. Until they tired her out, it was the only way to be sure that the person you saw was really there.

Volpina herself seemed ignorant of their plan – at the very least, she wasn’t holding back with her illusions. All the better to tire her out, and since Chat Noir had long since taken the only other magical artifact in the crew’s possession, she was the main threat. Ladybug had expressly forbidden the use of artillery and firearms in this fight until they could be sure that Volpina had been neutralized…there was too much risk of shooting an ally, even Max’s skillful upgrades to their guns’ and cannons’ reliability and accuracy couldn’t get around that.

Chat Noir made good use of his staff, splitting it apart and throwing the spinning halves around the deck. If it dispelled an illusion, good. If it hit an enemy, even better. If it hit an ally, well, they should’ve known to duck. He mostly reserved the use of his destruction power, but he did take the opportunity to destroy a few of the enemies’ weapons – it was immensely satisfying to see the looks on their faces as he did so. It mostly got them to back off and focus on those without magic…though they were still outclassed by the _Lucky Charm_ crew, Chat Noir thought appreciatively.

Théo did not back off.

Chat Noir started mewing at him in the tune of “Drunken Sailor”. Théo dove at him, snarling, trying to wrestle him to the ground. Laughing, Chat Noir twisted away, knocking Théo back easily.

Ladybug landed behind Chat Noir, placing her hand on his shoulder briefly to assure him it was her.

“The mewing was a bit much, don’t you think?” she asked, then added, quietly. “We’re close. Keep your ears out for the signal.”

“Why, I think mewing was the purr-fect choice! All shanties are made better with meows!”

Ladybug laughed, and turned to leave, no doubt to inform the others. Too late, Chat Noir realized he’d let his guard down.

Théo came slamming into him, this time succeeding in knocking him to the ground. They twisted around on the deck of the ship, Théo grabbing at Chat Noir’s wrist, pushing up against the ring to slide it off. Chat Noir desperately tried to regain control, but Théo effectively blocked him, holding off his other arm with his body. Realizing the inevitable, Chat Noir knew he had to act quickly.

“Ladybug!” he screamed, and, with the ring loose at the tip of his finger, he curled his hand back as best he could…

…and flung the ring across the deck. Though he couldn’t see her, he trusted that Ladybug would know what to do. His magically-enhanced strength drained from him, but at the same moment, Théo released him, swearing up a storm as he tried to scramble after the ring.

That couldn’t happen. He grabbed Théo by the leg, tripping him, and tried to wrestle him as best he could away from the direction the ring had gone flying. All Ladybug needed was enough time…

Though he lacked his claws, he scratched and he kicked and he shoved and he did whatever it took to force Théo to the edge. At this moment, he didn’t care that the signal hadn’t gone out – he was fighting seriously if he had to save his own skin.

Pressed up against the side of the ship, something gave, and they went tumbling as they slipped away from each other. Théo fell to the ocean below.

He did not.

That wonderful sound, the zip of that magical bandalore cord, was more beautiful than any music, as it wrapped around him, stopping his descent, before Ladybug pulled him back to the ship.

He breathed heavily as his knees made contact with the solid surface of the deck and the cord unwrapped around him. He didn’t have to look up to know that Ladybug was offering him her hand. He gripped it, and felt what was unmistakably his ring. He smiled in relief.

“Thanks, I owe you one. Probably more than one.”

“Think nothing of it, we’re partners, after all.” She pulled him to his feet.

He took his hand from her, ring clutched in his fist, and looked up from the deck to meet her eyes.

“I promise I’ll think a great deal of it, my Lady. This is not the first time you’ve saved my life.”

To his surprise, she didn’t respond. She stood as if frozen, staring at him. At once, her face started shifting, her expressions too quick for him to make sense of them. Her mouth parted slightly, then moved – but if she formed words, he could not hear or read them.

A horn blared. Once, twice, a shorter burst, another time, and again…in exactly the pattern Ladybug had established. Their signal.

Ladybug inhaled sharply, and spun quickly around as the last note faded.

“Playtime is _over_ , Volpina!” she shouted.

He scrambled to replace his ring, and took his place by Ladybug’s side as the transformation covered him once more, restoring his strength. It was time to free the seas of these villains for good.

A cheer went up from their allies as Ladybug called for her power. Volpina responded in kind, the number of their enemies seeming to grow tenfold.

Chat Noir cracked his knuckles, grinned, and threw himself into the fight without a second thought. He didn’t have time to worry about what had made Ladybug react so oddly – it wasn’t affecting her ability to fight, at any rate.

He whirled through the illusions, striking quickly with his staff as he spun around.

“They just keep coming!” he said, more to himself than anyone else. They had underestimated how long Volpina could keep summoning illusions – perhaps they didn’t require as much energy as he and Ladybug had thought.

 _But_ , he realized, _she can’t disguise the boat_. It was a risky move, but he had confidence in Ladybug and her crew. Calling up as much power as he thought he could risk, he plunged his hand onto the deck. Within seconds, the wood rotted and crumbled, the destruction relentlessly spreading out in all directions. As the power left his hand, exhaustion set in.

Chat Noir’s last thought before he collapsed was that between this and fighting off Théo, he _might_ have overextended himself.

.

.

.

He woke up in the private cabin. Ladybug’s cabin, technically, but she preferred to sleep in the bunks with the rest of the crew, so the captain’s quarters was used for whatever purpose was needed at the time. It was not the first time that it had been used for “Chat Noir recovery time”.

He sat up, groaning a bit. He was no longer exhausted, but this had happened enough times that he knew it would be a little while longer before he was back to normal.

“Awake?”

He turned to look at Nino. _Guess it’s his turn to babysit_.

“Yeah…”

“If I were you, I’d pretend to be asleep a bit longer. Captain’s still fuming.”

Chat Noir closed his eyes and pressed his palm to his face.

“No, I should own up to it, I know she hates it when I knock myself out. I should go try and apologize.”

“Suit yourself, man, it’s your neck,” Nino said, shrugging. “Other than that, though, things went great. The _Akuma_ ’s not going anywhere anytime soon, and we got the fox necklace. Captain hasn’t decided what to do with it yet, but it’ll probably go to Alya.”

“She’d be good with it,” Chat Noir agreed. “Up to three, now, huh? Wonder if there’s ever been a crew with so many.”

“Dunno,” Nino said. “I’d reckon that with too many of ‘em on one boat, you end up with power struggles, so probably not. We’ll do alright, though. You and Alya both adore the Captain, so I don’t see that happening on our boat.”

“No, I don’t think so either. I’m happy to follow where the Lady leads…” He trailed off with a yawn.

“You sure you don’t want to go back to sleep?” Nino asked. Chat Noir waved him off, still yawning.

“Just give me a moment…or two.”

It took a little bit longer than that to get himself together, but eventually he was ready, and with one more warning from Nino, the boys headed out onto the deck.

From the position of the sun, Chat Noir guessed he’d been out for several hours. Even from across the boat, he could tell that Ladybug was visibly upset – she was pacing back and forth, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d been at it for a while. Steeling himself, he began to walk over to her. She looked up, caught sight of him, and stopped in her tracks.

“YOU!” she bellowed at him as she pointed threateningly. Everything seemed for a moment to go still, everyone looking curiously at Ladybug. “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW PISSED I AM RIGHT NOW?!”

Maybe he should have listened to Nino.

“I know, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have used so much energy…”

“That is _not_ the issue here!”

He blinked in surprise. It wasn’t? That was usually the issue.

“The _issue_ ,” she said, stomping over to him. He backed up, finding himself against the railing.

“The _issue_ ,” she repeated, jabbing her finger into his chest, “is _you_. And everything you said. What you said yesterday, I mean. That you didn’t matter to anyone back home. How could you say that? How could you even say something like that, _Adrien_?!”

He reeled. He had not been called by his given name in a long time, not since he’d been kidnapped, at least.

“How…how do you know my…?”

Ladybug took a couple steps back, but Chat Noir didn’t dare to move. She lowered her head as she reached up to her ears, removing her earrings one by one. The crew had gathered around them (at a safe distance, of course…no one wanted to get close to an angry Ladybug), and they began whispering amongst themselves as the magic faded from her.

She looked up, and Chat Noir stared in disbelief.

“M…Marinette??”

The whispering became chatter.

“No _way_ ,” Alya said. “You two _knew_ each other from before? What are the chances? No, Max, don’t answer that.”

Alya’s question went ignored.

“You’d better damn well explain yourself!” She stalked up to him again, and he flattened himself as best he could against the railing. “Explain, before I throw you overboard!”

“I…I uh, don’t think you can do that when you’re not wearing your earrings…” he said dumbly.

She didn’t even break eye contact with him as she replaced them, still glaring.

“I’m…um…I’m sorry for not…thinking that you would miss me that much?” he offered weakly.

“But we were friends, weren’t we?” she fumed.

“Of course we were! But I always thought…I always thought that you felt you had to be. You were always…awkward around me, I thought that as the kitchen girl, you felt you didn’t get a choice about being my friend…”

“I was awkward around you because I was in love with you, you idiot!”

“Oh,” he said. “So…so this whole time…you were…trying to rescue… _me_?” His voice rose in pitch on the last word.

“Who _else_ would I be after?” she shouted. “And this whole time, this whole goddamn time…you’ve been right here. You’ve…been safe. You’re safe. Oh _god_ , I’m so glad that you’re alright.” Her voice choked and before he could process anything, she was wrapping him in the tightest hug he’d ever had in his life.

He didn’t move for a few moments, then awkwardly returned the hug as best he could.

“I…” he said. “Thank you. For coming for me. It means more to me than I can ever say, I hope you know that.”

Somehow, she hugged him even tighter in response.

“Are you still going to throw me overboard?” he asked.

“Haven’t made up my mind yet,” she said, face buried in his shoulder.

“Are you going to take me back home?” he asked, more seriously.

At this, she drew back, and looked him in the eyes.

“I would hope,” she said softly, “that you’re already home, kitten.”

He looked at her, then across the crew who were still watching the pair of them intently. He looked back at her and smiled.

“Yes,” he said. “Yes, I most definitely am.”


End file.
